Air-ship.



PATENTED FEB. 26, 1907.

J. A. BLSTON.

AIR SHIP.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 22, 1906.

I 2 SHEETS-BREE! 1.

INVENTOH ATTORNEYS WITNESSES No. 845,539. PATENTED FEB. 26,1907. J. A. ELSTON.

AIR SHIP.

APPLIULTIOII FILED MAY 22. 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A TTORNEYS vided with openings 13 'operator will be effectually protected from .ing draw1ngs,forming a part of usually passed UNITED STATES PATENT. oniiion.

' A. ELSTON, OF JEFFERSON CITY, MISSOURI.

AIR-SHIP.

P atented Feb. 26, 1807.

Application filed May 22, 1906- Serial No."318.128.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES A. .ELs'ro-N, a

' citizen of the United States, and a resident of Another purpose of the invention is to provide a construction of aerial vessel in which wings are employed as a motive power, with or without theassistance of a bal oon or gasbag or its equivalent, and wherein also the e elements while working the vessel. Theinvention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter and pointed out in the claims.

. Reference is to be had to the accompanyindicate corresponding parts in all the figures. the improved air-ship. elevation of the major portion of the vessel,

and Fig. 3 is' a vertical sect on taken PIiLOtlcally on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. p

In the construction of the vessel a perpendicularbody-bar Ais employed, which may be of any cross-sectional shape. Prelerably, however, the said body-bar is rectangular in cross-section, and the upper end of the bodybar is forked, providing two oppositelycurved members 10 and 11. (Best shown in Figs. 1 and 2.) At the lower end of the said body-bar A a saddle 12 is formed by widen ing the said lower portion of the body-bar and curving it upward and rearward, so as to constitute an easy seat for the operator, as is indicated in Fig. 1. This saddle 12 s proand 13*, suitably loattachment of a harness 14, around the lower limbs and the shoulders of the operator." One or more cated for the straps 15 are also employed at the waist portion of the o erator, and said straps are passed throug a guide-loop 16 at the forward lower portion of the body-bar.

Adjacent to and below the bifurcated upper portion of the body-bar A opposing ears fully set forth, I

this sp'ec fication, in which similar characters of reference- 17 are produced, being either integral with the said body-bar or attached thereto, and between the cars at opposite sides of the body-bar the inner flattened ends 18 of wings B areivoted by means of suitable pins 19, l and t fese wings are given the customary sweep, their upper faces being convexed and their under faces concaved.

The pivot-pins 19 for the wings are provided with rear extensions 20, which rear extensions serve in a measure to support what may be termed a tailpiece. C, cupies a rear horizontal position, being at right angles to the body-bar A. This tail iece O is provided with a centrally-located stud 21 at its forward edge, and said stud is passed through an opening in the body-bar A between the pivot-points of the wings B, as is shown in Fig. 3. A cotter-pin 22. or its equivalent ispassed through the forward end of the stud 21. The tailpiece C and likewise the wings B are made of very light "ample, aluminium-,or they may be made .of a light bamboo frame covered withfabric of any suitable description. The tailpiece C not needed; but the said tailpiece C assists in balancing the machine and also protects the operator from the inclemency of the weather.

material-as, for exwhich 00- p is not properly a rudder, since one is really are connected with staples or eyes 25,- secured upon the upper faces of the wings B, usually at a point between their centers an their inner ends. Non-elastic cables 27 are secured at their upper ends by means of eyes 26 or their equivalents to the under faces of the wingsB, preferably just below the point of attachment of the elastic cables 23, and the said'non-elastic cables 27 are carried down and are secured to the end ortions of a handlebar D, having a centra enlarged section 28, apertured so asto have sliding and guided movement on the body-bar A. An elastic loop'29 is made o connect the non-elastic cables 27.

In operation the operator will grasp the handle-bar D near eachend, as is shown in Fig. 1, and need notnecessarily relinquish his grasp while the machine is in flight.

When the machine is to be started upward,- i

start as the handle-bar D a balloon or fit ted to the body structure at the handle-bar and said wings, and elastic I at its lower end a-'saddle,ewings pivotally structure.

give the machine an upward connected with the body-bar adjacent to its is moved up upper ends, springs attached to the upper and downward to im art the necessary moveportions of the said wings and to the upper ment tothe wings end portions of the body-bar, a horizontal drawn downward and the rearwardly extending tailpiece, secured to are placed under tension when the wings are the body-bar adjacent to its pivotal connecpermitted to ascend the elastic loop or band tions with t e wings, and cable connections 29 W'lll assist the cables 23 in their upward between the ends of the'handle-bar and the influence on the wings. The steering is acwings. complished by the operator balancing his body, leaning to one side or the other or ford or rearward and by causing more weight to be brought to bear on one end of h the handle-bar than on the other.

Inoi'der to lessen the work of the o erator, gas-bag E may be emp oyed in connection with-the wings B, and at such time. the guy-ropes 30 of the balloon may be attached to a ring 31, secured to the upper bifurcated portion of the body-bar A; but a balloon is not essential to the successful operation of the machine.

Having thus described my invention, 3: claim as new and desire to secure 'by Letters Patent- 1. In an air-ship, sion-controlled wings handle-bar slidably mounted upon the body structure and connected with said win In an air-ship, a body structure; a saddle carried thereby, tension-controlled wings pivotally connected with the body structure, a handle-bar mounted to slide upon the body structure below the wings, and connectionsbetween the ends of the handle-bar and adjacent wings.

3. In an the ground to 5. I, In an air-ship, a body structure, a sadportion of the l springs attached to the up er faces of the wings and to the upper mem structure, a handle-bar mounted to slide on the body structurebelow the wings, and cables connected with the ends of the said handle-bar and the under faces of the wings at points nearly opposite to theattachment of said wings with said springs, the said cables being'non-elastic. In an air-ship,

body-bar having its upper end forked, a rearh aving means for atarness, oppos win s p1vwith the =b0d y bar niar its upper or forked end, springs attached to the upper members ofthe body-bar and to the upper surfaces of the Wings, a horizontal tailpiece secured to and exten g rearwardly from the body-bar below the wings, a handlebar mounted to slide on the body-bar below the said wings, non-elastic cables secured to the ends of the body-bar and to the under a handle-bar mounted to slide uponfthe body '1 tachment to a air-ship, a body structure, wings In testimony whereof I name to thisspecification I two subscribmg witnesses.

JAMES A. ELSTON. Witnesses: I

; L. D. GoRDON, F. W. Rona.

non-elastic connections between the-ends of have signed in in the presence of connections between the 'up the wings and per portions of the upper portions of the. body 4. In an air-ship, a body-bar terminatin ers of the body 

